Mon IDPs Begin Reconstructing Their Collapsing Hospital but Help Is Needed

Burma Link | July 14, 2015

Only a few months ago, the clinic in Halockhani, a Mon internally displaced person (IDP) village in southeast Burma, was collapsing. Anyone walking through the worn out building would have to watch out for the wooden bars falling down from the sealing, and rotten floor boards giving way underneath. The villagers, who had no choice but to cross the border to Thailand every time they needed a doctor, are now excited that with their active participation the hospital is turning over a new leaf.

During Burma Link’s visit to the IDP village in December, villagers’ main concerns were lack of aid and the collapsing clinic. The villagers’ hopes of a new clinic are now coming true with the help of a Swedish group Varma Handen, the only international NGO raising funds to rebuild the clinic. Mirjami Bäckman, the organisation’s founder and vice-chairperson, said in December that the timetable for building was entirely dependent on their ability to raise funds.

After significant fundraising efforts, construction of the new clinic began in January. The Swedish group works together with the villagers, who have designed the new building in cooperation with the Mon National Health Committee. The villagers are now taking an active role in the construction, volunteering to help in any way they can.

Inside the collapsing hospital in December. (Photo: Ariana Zarleen)

Villager rebuilding the hospital. (Photo: Varma Handen)

Funds are, however, still running low, and more is needed to finish the much needed hospital. In May, Varma Handen held an event in Sweden to help raise much needed funds to continue with the construction. They are also raising money from all over the world, for example the US, Australia, northern Europe and the Netherlands, Bäckman told Burma Link. “We still have many bills to pay and we have to pay from our own pockets if we don’t raise enough for the project.”

If everything goes well, the villagers hope to have an official opening for the clinic in December this year.

You can help the villagers in Halockhani to continue building the clinic. Contact Varma Handen if you wish to make a donation.

About: Halockhani is located only one kilometer from the Thai border and the refugee camp Ban Don Yang, about 30 kilometres from Sanghklaburi in Thailand’s Kanchanaburi Province. The village itself currently houses more than 1,000 people, according to the village chief Nai Chit Toe, but the surrounding area of five IDP villages is a home to nearly 3,000 people.

Read more about Halockhani and the collapsing clinic on The Irrawaddy, authored by Ariana Zarleen, co-founder of Burma Link – Mon IDPs Concerned about Lack of Aid in Halockhani.

See Burma Link’s photo gallery of Halockhani.